Revealed: Allied invasion of North Africa was only saved by dramatic arrest of spy

Grainy MI5 file photographs of radio operator Gastao de Freitas Ferraz, who aimed to trail the Allied convoy

The Allied landing in North Africa during the Second World War was almost wrecked by a German spy, newly released MI5 files have revealed.

But the spy was dramatically arrested and the secret invasion was saved.

Gastao de Freitas Ferraz was heading towards a convoy due to take part in the 1942 landing - and if he had successfully trailed it he would have ruined a carefully laid deception which had convinced the Germans the attack was due to fall in Europe.

His arrest was revealed in security service files released by the National Archive today.

Professor Chris Andrew, official historian for MI5, said the success of U.S. General George Patton's North Africa landing depended on a huge deception run by the British using captured German spies who had been turned into double agents.

Ferraz, a radio operator on a Portuguese fishing boat, was paid by the Nazis to pass on information on the whereabouts of Allied ships.

He was discovered when 'a most secret source' tipped off MI5 that a German agent had contacted someone on the boat in June 1942.

HMS the Duke of York intercepted his ship Gil Eannes in 1942 on a journey from Newfoundland to Lisbon.

As a result, the stream of misinformation spread by the British network of double agents successfully fooled Germany into thinking the Allied assault - Operation Torch - would take place in northern France or Norway.

Mr Andrew said: 'This would not have worked if Gastao de Freitas Ferraz had not been captured, because he was on the tail of Patton's troops and would have told the Germans where they were really going and could have affected the outcome of the whole war.

'There had never been a deception like this in British history. The fact that the deception worked means that it was the precursor to an extraordinary programme of deception.

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'Whether Operation Torch succeeded or failed, the deception which preceded it succeeded or failed, was not merely of immediate importance but in my judgment was of significance for the outcome of the war.'

A note from Foreign Office to Lisbon from January 1943 said: 'While a large convoy was on its way to North Africa for the operations which began there shortly afterwards, Gil Eannes was following a course which would have brought her directly into the route of the convoy.

King George VI, left, visits Allied forces in North Africa in 1943 with General Patton, right, whose convoy had almost been thwarted by Ferraz

'Owing to the obvious importance of preserving secrecy regarding the movements of this convoy it was of vital importance that Freitas should have no opportunity of indulging in his past practises and reporting its movements.

'Orders were therefore given to remove him at sea before contact was made with the convoy, and to place an armed guard on board the Gil Eannes in order to ensure that if Freitas had any accomplices they would not be in a position to pass any information to the Axis.'

After his arrest, Ferraz was first taken to Gibraltar and then interrogated at MI5's 'Camp 020' spy detention centre in London.

The Portuguese sailor was imprisoned for the rest of the war after confessing to helping the Germans.

The newly released documents show that security service staff had deemed him to be an unlikely candidate for espionage because of his seniority on board the Portuguese ship.

However, the boat was under the constant risk of being sunk by the German navy, perhaps making deals with Nazi agents more likely.

The arrest and imprisonment of Ferraz - referred to in the files as Freitas or de Freitas - led to hasty diplomatic efforts to smooth relations with Portugal, as shown by the Foreign Office communiqués about the incident.

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Revealed: Allied invasion of North Africa was only saved by dramatic arrest of spy